


Feed Me & Tell Me I'm Pretty

by robyn118



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Boys In Love, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26821465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robyn118/pseuds/robyn118
Summary: Rhett shaved his beard for Buddy System and feels a little insecure about it... Link to the rescue to give his man a pep talk.
Relationships: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	Feed Me & Tell Me I'm Pretty

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Tumblr request from @kierthurduffy who requested a fic about Rhett shaving his beard for BS and feeling insecure about it. 
> 
> I really appreciate the request and I hope you like it! It was super fun to write and I needed a happy/fluffy fic to get my mind off some stuff my family is dealing with. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy ❤

Link was in the middle of scarfing some food down during one of the quieter moments at the studio.

He and Rhett were in the process of creating their first scripted series. Everything was running smoothly, considering they only had a few days left to get the last of the filming done. They still had a ton of work to do before people actually saw the finished product - but it was coming together better than either of them expected it to. 

His anxiety was off the charts, although in all honesty, he loved it. He loved creating - loved creating with Rhett especially. It was scary and overwhelming and so incredibly fun. He loved embarking on this new adventure together - not to mention the other new adventure of their relationship shift. 

His heart fluttered at the mere mention of it in his thoughts - you would think after 35 years of friendship a person would get used to that feeling.

 _Speaking of Rhett, where was he?_ Link thought to himself. They had parted ways after changing back into their street clothes from the music video they had filmed earlier today. He wasn't one to delay eating - ever.

He was shoveling the last fry from his box into his mouth when a soft knock came to the door. "Link?" 

"Yeah?" It was Stevie, she opened the door immediately after knocking, her brows creased with worry. 

"It's Rhett. I think he needs you." She said nervously. 

"What d'you mean? Is he okay?" Link met her gaze with equal amounts of concern. She nodded, gesturing to her face and making a broad wave with her hand, her eyes sad. 

"Oh," Link said, realizing what was keeping Rhett from taking the break they both needed. He stood up, straightening his clothes as he walked back to the studio, certain of where he would find Rhett. 

* * *

Rhett couldn't bring himself to look in the mirror, he'd looked to shave it but only focusing on where the razor was stripping the hair from his face. He didn't take in the whole picture, knowing he would find a baby faced, no-chin-having, insecure man there when he did decide to finally face himself. 

He knew this was coming. He knew it would make absolutely amazing content. He knew that it would grow back - eventually. But it didn't stop him from feeling like he'd just given a speech to the entire student body at Buies Creek Elementary School only to look down and find out he forgot to put his pants on that morning. 

This was worse too, this thing would be seen by millions of people. His skin grew hot, fire burning him from the inside out. There was really no use in stressing. Logically, it was done. There was no way to take it back now. He'd have to face it at some point anyway, but he'd rather deal with it later. 

Someone knocked on the door. "Occupied," he yelled through the door, grouchy at whoever dared disturb him while he was in the middle of an internal crisis. 

"Rhett," Link's voice called through the door, soft and easy like he was talking to a child. "Open the door."

 _Damn it!_ He didn't want anyone to see him right now, least of all Link. He'd seen Rhett at his worst, he knew that, but this wasn't something he wanted Link to bare witness to. Especially since they were technically boyfriends now - that word still felt new on Rhett's tongue. 

They were still in the beginning stages of their new relationship and even though they had basically been dating for most of their life - exploring each other in this new way was overwhelming, to say the least. He knew he was being silly - it was still Link, still the same guy he grew up with, the same guy that knew him better than he knew himself, the same guy he fell in love with. 

This all was just horrible timing. 

Shaving his beard felt like he was taking off the last layer of himself and exposing it to everyone.

"I'm fine, Link." Rhett used his name, something that was becoming more rare, usually defaulting to 'babe' with the recent turn of events. 

"You don't sound fine." Link responded quickly, of course, being able to see through his tough exterior right to his heart that felt as bare as his cheeks currently were. 

He silently got up from his position on the closed toilet and unlocked the door, returning to his position as Link pushed the door open. 

He rested his elbows on his knees, burying his face in his hands, covering all the bare skin that shouldn't be exposed. He heard Link's footsteps on the tile floor as he made his way in and closed the door softly behind him. 

He was silent for a while, and when he spoke again his voice was careful, measured. "Can I see?" He asked. 

Rhett gave him a noncommittal grunt. 

"Come on, bo. I've already seen you without a beard. Are you forgetting you didn't have that thing until you were like thirty." He chuckled out and Rhett could sense that shit-eating grin a mile away. 

"Shut-up." Rhett teased (if only a little), finally dropping his hands but his gaze stayed fixed on the floor, unwilling to see Link's reaction to his bare face. 

"Hey," Link said, stepping closer to Rhett and placing a finger under his jawline, lifting gently. Rhett didn't fight it, knowing he was only putting off the inevitable. "See, it's not so bad." His voice genuine, but Rhett still felt his stomach clinch tight. 

"That's another way of saying it looks like shit," Rhett quipped back, lacking all humor in his voice. 

"Don't do that, baby. You know that's not what I meant." Link sounded wounded at the accusation. Rhett scoffed, turning his head to the side, freeing Link's grip on him and looking to the floor again. 

Link sighed, backing out of Rhett's space and leaning against the bathroom sink that was still littered with the coarse hair of Rhett's once full beard. "You know what this reminds me of?" Link started again, Rhett could hear the smile in his voice. "When you tried to teach me how to shave." 

Despite himself, Rhett smiled at the memories of them both huddled into Link's small bathroom. Rhett tugging on Link's chin as he ran the razor over his barely there hair on the lower half of his face. Soft giggles and teasing words whispered to each other.

_"Just hold still, okay. One more and you should be done." Rhett said, tilting Link's chin up so the other boy was looking at the ceiling._

_"If you cut me, man..."_

_"I'm not gonna cut you. You're the one that asked me to finish for you... Just trust me."_

_Link let out an aggravated sigh, knowing the taller boy was right and let him finish his work._

"Like you had any idea what you were doing either." Link chuckled. 

"Hey, I did a pretty good job. Didn't even cut you - which honestly was a miracle." Rhett looked up at Link, met with a wide smile and those bright blue eyes of his. 

"You did do a good job," Link agreed. "I'm kind of sad I didn't get to return the favor." 

"You won't either. I'm _never_ doing this again, so you better enjoy it while it lasts." Rhett said, sour mood returning as quickly as it had left at the reminder of what he'd just done.

"Yeah, which is exactly the reason I'm going to enjoy it." Link walked back over, standing in between Rhett's open thighs, placing his hands on the bare cheeks of his love and tilting his head up once more. "It reminds me of when we were young and stupid - and hopelessly in love with each other but too afraid to admit it. You'll always be 'Rhett' to me, no matter how bad you _think_ the outside looks. You're my other half." Link paused, searching Rhett's eyes for understanding. "And for the record, I think you look handsome, always have."

Rhett watched as Link bent his head down and kissed his lips, gentle and only lingering for a second, but there was enough love in it to spread down Rhett's body and warm him in a way only Link could. "It is gonna be weird kissing you now, though." He winked down at Rhett, drawing a laugh from the seated man.

Link clapped him on the shoulder, walking over to the door. "Now, come on, handsome, your food's getting cold and I know you gotta be starving."

Rhett got up from his position on the toilet and strolled over to where Link was holding the door open. He craned his neck down, switching their earlier position to something they were both a little more familiar with. "Thank you." He whispered, "I love you." 

"Love you, too."


End file.
